Chapter 34: Finding Ways to Entertain Oneself
The trip to Manchuria would easily take a month and a half, perhaps even longer. Because of this, Bruno spent his days getting accustomed to the crew of the SMS, Hansa, and the officers on board it.
When he wasn't smoking on the deck, chatting with the sailors, and gazing off at the many seas and oceans of the world, then he was within the interior, either playing poker with Heinrich and Erich. Or chatting with the Captain and his subordinates.
Life in the Navy was different than that of the army. And when having dinner with the Captain of the vessel one night. Bruno made a humorous remark about this.
"Quite frankly, I'm not the kind of man to spend my life at sea. I'd rather not drown in the ocean should the ship go down. Give me a bullet to the dome, or a quick death by artillery any day of the week. The sailor's life is not for me!"
Contrary to the grim nature of Bruno's joke, Captain Hermann von Humboldt laughed at it before making fun of the young general for his words.
'Oh? Are you perhaps not confident in your ability to swim General? Don't worry there are plenty of life preservers and rafts on board this ship. God forbids something happens on our journey. I'll make sure to toss you one!"
Seeing how the Captain was a good sport about his relatively crass remarks, Bruno responded to this banter with some of his own.
"Oh, I'm quite confident in my ability to swim. But I'm only human. The odds of me swimming to shore in the event that we sink in the middle of the ocean are virtually zero. But who knows, maybe mermaids really exist and will save my drowning ass because I'm so good looking. Though how I would face my wife afterward, I fear to even think about..."
The Captain laughed at Bruno's words, while pouring him another drink from the bottle of distilled spirits he had taken from his private stash for this occasion. He couldn't help but make a comment about that, and how his brother had been avoiding the topic of marriage lately.
"Speaking of, Erich is already in his mid-twenties, and still has yet to take a wife. He has rejected any attempts by the family to set him up with a good girl. I'm starting to think he might be into men...."
Silence remained for several seconds as Bruno drank from his liquor. He wanted to make it appear as if he knew something about Hermann's last remarks, but was unwilling to speak. In doing so, he caused Hermann to become quite anxious, as the man quickly spoke his thoughts aloud.
"Don't tell me that boy is, actually?"